The astronomy department at
Smith College is a member of the
Five College Astronomy
Department . The
"Five Colleges"include
Amherst College,
Hampshire College,
Mount Holyoke College and
the University of Massachusetts.
The Five College Astronomy Department offers a collaborative undergraduate
major in astronomy.
Astronomical facilities
of all five institutions are available for student
use. The McConnell Rooftop Observatory
at Smith College includes two computer controlled Schmidt Cassegrain
telescopes, one with an aperture of 16" and one with an aperture of
14", six portable 8"
Schmidt-Cassegrains and an SBIG CCD camera. Other telescopes in the Department
include
Five College Radio Observatory in the
Quabbin Reservoir region; the Amherst Observatory, with an 18" refractor; and
the Williston Observatory 24" reflector at Mount Holyoke. Students may obtain
research and thesis material here or as guest observers at other
observatories.